Spring/Summer 1990, Number 104

The Delius Society Journal

The Delius SocietySocieQ JournalJTI OUrnAt

Spring/Summer 1990.1990, Number 104 The Delius Society Full Membership and Institutions £10f 10 per year Students £8f8 USA and Canada US$21 per year Africa, Australasia and Far East £12f 12

Presidents Eric Fenby OBE, Hon DMus,D Mus, Hon DLitt,D Litt, Hon RAM, FRCM, Hon FfCLFTCL

Vice Presidents Felix Aprahamian Hon RCO Roland Gibson MSc, PhD (Founder Member) Sir Charles Groves CBE Meredith Davies CBE, MA, BMus,B Mus, FRCM, Hon RAM NonnanNorman Del Mar CBE, Hon DMusD Mus VemonVernonHandley MA, FRCM, D Univ (Surrey)

Chairman RBR B Meadows 5 WestboumeWestbourneHouse, Mount Park Road, Harrow, Middlesex HAHA11 3JT

Treasurer Derek Cox Mercers, 6 Mount Pleasant, Blockley, Glos. GL56 9BU Tel: (0386) 700175

Secretary Miss Diane Eastwood 28 Emscote Street South, Bell Hall, Halifax, Yorkshire Tel: (0422) 50537

Editor Stephen Lloyd 85a Farley Hill, Luton, Bedfordshire LUI 5EG Tel: Luton (0582) 2007520015 2

CONTENTS

Delius's Student Exercises by Robert Threlfall ...... 3

Felix Aprahamian talking to the Delius Society ...... 66

Midlands Branch Report: Piano Recital by Robert Threlfall ...... 77

No Orrdiences ? by Geoffrey G Hoare ...... 10l0

Debussy and Delius: A Comparison by CWC W Orr ...... 13l3

A Mass of Life by CWC W OrrOrr...,...... 15

Further Book Reviews: SirSirThomasThontas BeechamBeechanr edited J D GilmourGilmour...... 1717 Spring Returning by James Farrar .....18 Cecil GrayGral'by by Pauline Gray ...... 19

News Round-Up ...... 2020

Obituary: Peter Longhurst ...... 2222

Correspondence ...... 2323

Forthcoming Events ...... 2323

The usual Spring issue of the Journal has been withheld to allow publication of a comprehensive Index to the complete run of Journals which will be readyreadvveryverv soon and sent to all members.

Additional copies of this issue £2f2 (non-members £2.50),f2.50), inclusive of postage ISSN-0306-0373rssN-0306-0313 3

DELIUS'S STUDENT EXERCISES A FRESH LOOK AT THE CHRONOLOGY by Robert Threlfall

Among thethemany music notebooks used by Frederick Delius at various stages of his career, four are of special -- ifif limitedlimited- - interestinterestsince they contain many of his early exercises written while a student. Any spare space was often used (sometimes(sometimesseveral years afterwards) forfor workings of various later compositions. These fourfour books may be briefly described and encoded for our reference below as follows: follows: 1. lU,JU. now in lacksonvilleJacksonvilleUniversity (Carl(Carl S Swisher Library),Library). Florida, USA, toto which it it was given by Eric Fenby inin 1962.1962.ItIt contains 39 pages of music writing. All but9 are of studentexercises; there is no generalgerreral or sequential dating by Delius. Upright format. 2. GM, now in the Grainger Museum, University of Melbourne, Australia,Australia. where it was received in 1948.ItIt contains32 pages of music writing, on about one third of which similar pedagogic matter is to be found. It is also undated by Delius. Upright format. 3. L Cons, now in the Delius Trust Archive (Beecham Accession) is almost entirely devoted to studies in counterpoint, canon and fugue dated throughout by Delius himself from MarchMarch2929 to November 1I 1887; also signed and dated by him at the LeipzigLeipzigConservatoire Conservatoire on the flyleaf. It now contains 45 leaves (3 leaves have evidently been removed). Oblong format. 4. Also in the Trust's Archive, where it is bound up as Vo!'Vol. 38, is another book in upright format. This contains a few further fugue studies dated November 13l3 1887,I 887,but it is otherwise filled with ink notations made in NorwayNorwavearlier that year and in 1889,and with undated pencil sketches forfbr various compositions,compositions. many of a somewhat later date. For the present, let our study only concern this student material;material: also, since the few exercises found in DTDTAA Vo!.Vol. 38 obviously follow immediately on those in L Cons, we need spend no longer on the former in the present context. If the pagesof exercises in lU,JU.GM and L Cons are now examined side by side,side.it will at once be observed that allallthese these exercises, many of which appear in more than one of the books.books, bear numbers which are often repeated but are not necessarily sequential. To identify and explain these numbers must be our first task. For this purpose,let usturn to the pedagogicalwritings of SalomonJadassohn,ladassohn, under whoseaegis Delius's theoretical studies were carried out at Leipzigin theyears 1886-8. Jadassohn'sladassohn's theoretical oeuvreoeurre included a comprehensiveMusikalische Kontpositionsleltre,Kompositionslehre, of which thecomponents were as follows: 1.L Lehrbuchder Harmonie,LeipzigHarmonie, Leipzig 1883 (ref. H below) 2. Lehrbuchdes Contrapunkts,Leipzig 1884 (ref. C below) (Englished. 1887)I 887) 4

3. Die Lehre vom Canon und von der Fuge, Leipzig 1884 4. Die Formen in den Werken der Tonkunst, Leipzig 1885 5. Lehrbuch der Instrumentation, Leipzig 1889 Of these, the publication date of the last throws it out of Delius's period of residence in Leipzig. His personal copy of no. 4 has survived, however, and is now in the same collection in lacksonvilleJacksonvillealready referred to. With no. 3 we are not immediately concerned, but scrutiny of nos. I and 2 at once reveals familiar features. The puzzle of the curiously non-sequential numbering of Delius's exercises is reflected in ladassohn'sJadassohn'smanuals, wherein all the musical examples are numbered in running order, whether illustrations or exercises. It will quickly be recognised by comparison that exercises from H and from C account for each and everyoneevery one of the numbered studies in harmony and counterpoint found throughout all Delius's three notebooks in question, as follows: In lU JUare found Exx. 156-9, 156-9. 171-5,17 l-5.1 185-7,85-7. 190-3,212-15190-3. 212-15 and 225 fromfromC: C; also Ex. 170 from H. In GM are found Exx. 130.147-50, 130,147-50, 156-9.156-9, 224-7224-1 from C;C: also Exx. 137,145,137,145, 165 and 170 from H. In L Cons are found Exx. 212-15.224-7,234-6,243-4.2l2-15.221-1,234-6,243-4, 246-8 from C; also studies in canon and fugue (relating to textbook no. 3 above, but neither that volume nor the exercises bear numbers in this case). Sub-headings to Delius's exercises,exercises.such as Jadassohn /I Umkelzrung Umkehrung/I DominantseptimenaccordDontinantsep(imenacc'ord/I dreistimmigeclreistimntige Sat:::,Sat:, are all in Delius's hand and in German. Taken together, all this information is surely sufficient to prove conclusively (i)(i)that that all these notebooks are roughly contemporaneous.contemporaneous, and (ii) that the two undated books, GM and - in particular - lU.JU, must stem from a Leipzig (i.e. post-autumn 1886) date.date, into which later matter has subsequently been written on any remaining spare space. L Cons, with its different format, format. neater hand.hand, careful dating (but occasional pencil correction - as if by a tutor) appears to show the final form in which the exercises were submitted. The exercises in lUJU and GM are rather less tidy.tidy, have many running corrections in ink (as well as some in pencil) and in many cases do not appear to have reached their final stage; hence I am inclined to think that lUJU and GM may be Delius's preliminary work-books. Also.Also, as Exx. 156-9,171-5.l-56-9.lJl-5. 185-7 and 190-3 from C appear in lUJU (and 130,l30, 147-50141-50in GM) but not in L Cons (use of which commenced in March 1887).I 887).the use of an earlier similarsirnilar book to L Cons,Cons.but covering the final workings of those sessions which started in autumn 1886 may bebepostulated,evenpostulated. even if ititno no longer survives. It is of interest in thisthisconnectionconnection to note from DeliusDelius's's Leipzig reports. as recently studied by OrDr Philip lones,Jones. that he received higherhi-sher commendation from ladassohnJadassohnforfbr his hard work. especially in counterpoint,counterpoint.than from any of his other professors. (See DelillsDelius SocietySot'iet,-JournalJournttl 102, AutumnAuturnn 1989.1989, pp.pp.5 5 and 7. The translation at the head of p.5 omits ladassohnJadassohn's 's signature.signature, which should appear after the third sentence;sentence: see facsimile on p.7.) 5

Against my present redating and provenance of 1U,JU, the following will most 'Delius's certainly be urged: this book has been endorsed by Eric Fenby 'Delius' .'I MSS [sic]Isit'] notehook /884/18841containing hisltis earliest exercisese-uert'isesinitt counterpoint,!t'tttutterpttittt.l withu'ith numerous alterations.alteratiorts. whichv'hich he workedvlorked on/onl with vith Thomas Thontas Ward at ut Solano Gro\'e.'Grove.' With the greatest respect to OrDr Fenby and due deference to his opinion or information, this dating is in my nry view no longer tenable on the current evidence here presented; for it would demand the assumption that Ward used the German language and 1adassohn'sJadassohn's text-books, within a year of their first publication, as basis for instruction of his diligent pupil. (Eric Fenby presumably had Oelius'sDelius's - or 1elka'sJelka's- authority for his statement: but OeliusDelius could not actually see the book in question at the timetirne of Fenby's association with him, and 1elka'sJelka's evidence could only have been second-hand in this context, for she too waswils not a witness to the events of 1884.) The case here considered is but one illustration of the confusions wrought by fragmentation fragrnentation of a composer's legacy: it is not the only one to be encountered in OelianDelian studies. The deduction that all three notebooks, 1U,JLJ. GM and L Cons, are of Leipzig provenance would have been immediatelyimrnediatelyclear if they had first been available for examination side by side. Actually, L Cons has only morernorerecently (1982)( l9tt2) become part of the Trust's Archive. Earlier,Earlier.on studyingstuclyingphoto or xerox prints of GM (received in 1970)beside thosetlrose of 1UJU (receivedlreceivedin 1967) - such prints quite inadequate, of course, to reveal details of ink colour,colour. pencil overwritings,overwritin-us,binding and make-up, etc. - it was nonetheless clear to me that the exercises in both these books were contemporaneous. Acceptance at that stage of the given attribution of 1UJU to 1884l88rl naturally led merne to consider GM to reflect the same date, at least in part. Only after the reception of L Cons made feasiblef-easible the parallel study of all three books, and the puzzling number question was convincingly solved by referenceret'erenceto 1adassohn'sJadassohn'shandbooks, did it becomebecorne possible to detenninedeterminewhat must surely be the correct solution as is here brought forward;forward: namely that all three notebooks and their pedagogical contents date from 1886-7 and the period of Oelius'sDelius's residence and study in Leipzig. Space does not permitperrnit publication at thetlre present juncture of myrny further studies which bear on the chronology of various early,early. undated, minor works by the composer: they will however be similarly brought forwardf orward at an appropriate time.

This pupet',paper. lturtpart qlaof'u pr(~jectedpro.jet'tetlwiderv'icler studystudv q/Delius'o.fDalius' .'Is musictttusit'notehooks.ttotebooks, was x'us completedcontpleted three yearsvears ago hutbut wasvt'uswithheldu'itltlteltl at thatthut timetinrcJorfor personal reasons.reusotrs. NowNon' that several otherotltcr scholarsst'lutlars areure raisingruisirt,u,questionsqu(.\ti()ns on the mattersnruttct'shere considered,consitlerecl,it is clearclcar that ptrblit'utiottpuhlication nWJ' ntav notto longerlortgct' hebc delayed,delaycd, in orderrn'tlerto determinedeterntittethe correct chronologyt'hronologt' ofoJ'xtntesome ofDelius'srf'Deliu.r's sur\'i\'ing.slrliling studentstu(lentwork. v'ttrk. ©e RT. R.T.FebruaryFebruirry 1990 6

FELIXFELIXAPRAHAMIANAPRAHAMIAN

Talkingl'alking to the Delius Society Mary Ward House 8 November 1989

There can surely be no critic today who has so consistently supported the cause ofDelius'of Delius'ss music both in the press and through active participation in our Society's affairs as has Felix Aprahamian. Certainly there is none who can claim, as he can, to have visited Delius at Grez. Members of long standing will remember that it was he who, when the Society was formed, agreed to become its hundredth member if it prospered that far. He kept to his word, and has since been a frequent listener or contributor at our meetings. So it was a double pleasure to have him as our speaker last November. an occasion on which we were able to offer him 70th birthday congratulations as well as to hear him reminisce on his years in music with the many Delian connections. True stories often have an improbable beginning. It was when Felix, at the ageageofof 16, was wasassistantorganistassistant organist to Eric Thiman at Crouch End. that a avisitingvisiting dairy farmer from Launceston let drop two names that were to have a profound effect on his life: Delius and Beecham. It so happened that amongst Thiman's pile of records was the Beatrice Harrison recordingrecordin-e of the Cello Sonata which immediately cast its spell, and arriving home late one evening Felix was urged by his mother to listen through the headphones of a crystal set to a broadcast: of thetheMass ofUfeof LiJefrom the 1929 Delius Festival with Beecham conducting. He was just in time to catch the closing pages, and hearing Delius'Delius's s voice at the end of that broadcast remains an early memory. Within three years of that introduction to the music he was to visit Delius. Later he was to enjoy playing the Sonata with Beatrice Harrison,Harrison. and for many years he was to work for Sir Thomas Beecham. 'thirties For several years in the early 'thirties this 'office boy in Mincing Lane', as he referred to himself,himself.was to be found every night without fail standing at the Proms. Something of the heady excitement of those evenings can be gathered 'Diary from his 'Diary ofaoJa YaullgYouttgMan' which forms an important chapter in Barrie Hall's The PramsPronts alldand the menmert whou'ho madematle them (Alien(Allen & Unwin, 1981).198I ). But his most memorable occasion of that period was when, with two fellow Delius enthusiasts,enthusiasts.he determined to visit the composer at Grez. This trip was arranged to include a visit to St Sulpice in Paris. There he made his way by devious means to the organ loft where Widor was playing at the age of 89. Felix then read from his diaries a remarkably vivid and detailed account ofthisof this visit to Delius, an extract which with others he has kindly allowed to be printed in the JournalJournalin in due course. After an interval for refreshments,refreshments.Felix again took up his diaries and read his account of the two ceremonies at Limpsfield: Delius'Delius's s reinterment and the burial of Jelka a short time afterwards. All three extracts which he read were so detailed that the occasions were brought visibly to mind. More importantly, the many personalities present were methodically listed, making them 71 particularly valuable documents. Among the many additional fascinating snip­snip- pets was an account of a talk with Barjansky in his London hotel room. If members left Mary Ward House on Cloud Nine, it may have been through listening to somebody who had met Widor who had met Rossini who in turn had met Beethoven. But more likely it was a sense of privilege in having contact with one of the very few persons now alive to have met Delius, and members going home may well have felt imbued with the feeling of having got considerably closer to the composer.

MIDLANDS BRANCH REPORT PIANO RECITAL BY ROBERT THRELFALLTHRELF ALL

On 11 November last the Midlands Branch were entertained at the home of Branch Chairman Dick Kitching to a two-part piano recital given by Robert Threlfall. The first part was entitled 'Memories of some famous pianists', majoring on Solomon, Paderewski and Rachmaninov, all of whom Robert had heard play on a number of occasions and of whom the first had for a time been Robert's teacher. He recalled his first lesson with Solomon who,who. far from the usual treadmill technique of 'one in - one out' in half-hour slots, gave him such a long lesson that his mother, waiting in the nearby venue of Derry and Toms, had become worried, the lesson lasting over an hour and a half! With his extensive variety and quality of tones, Solomon was, in Robert's view, only matched by Rachmaninov of those that he had heard. Based on a complete mastery of fifive-fingerve-finger exercises augmented by the second important requirement which sprang from the first, that of playing evenly, Robert demonstrated his own expertise in these areas by playing two sonatas by Scarlatti (the D minor and F major), the first movement of Mozart's Sonata in B flat K333, and three Chopin Etudes (Op 25 No 2, Op 10l0 Nos 8 and 4), the last two separated by a superb performanceperfonnance of BerceuseBerc'euseOp 57, which Robert re­ re- minded us had received an encore at its very first performance by the composer. Robert had studied most of these pieces with Solomon, and the effect of this was clear in the style with which Robert played them. Paderewski was a small man with red hair and moustache, and was not unlike George Bernard Shaw in his earlier days who had himself remarked:rerrrarked: 'Anyone who looks like that must be a genius!' We were reminded that Paderewski concerts were lengthy and contained many major pieces, and that these were frequently followed by encores lasting up to half an hour, many of these also being majormajorworks.RobertplayedChantdevtva,e,eut'andCrac'oviennefantastique works. Robert playedChantde \'oyageurand Crac01'iennefantastique by the composer in a style that he remembered of Paderewski. The final section of the first half concentrated on Rachmaninov who had once been described as looking 'like a convict dressed as an undertaker'. Robert reminded us that the composer had only taken work as a concert pianist at the 8 age of 45 of necessity whereas Liszt had given this up at 40.40. Robert played 'as MMelodieelodie in E Op 3 No 3 'as played by the composer' in the recorded version rather than as published, sayingsayine that Rachmaninov performed from the inside outwards rather like Beecham and with great feeling, always giving the impression that he was making it up as he went along. Robert had been present when thetheRhapsody RhapsodT'onort a theme bybv Paganini was performed by the composer under Beecham,Beecham. when for the first time Rachmaninov inverted the main theme in a brilliant piece of extemporisation as Beecham looked on, stroking his beard. Robert played a short excerpt by way of demonstration. Three other pieces concluded the first half: Prelude in A minor, DaisiesDoisies transcribed from a song,song.and andOriental sketch which Rachmaninov wrote just before leaving Russia and was among the music in the small case that he had been allowed to take with him. 'Delius, The second half of the programme was entitled 'Delius, transcriber and transcribed', and commenced with seven Norwegian melodies written or arranged by Delius in 1887 and extracted from his notebook for that year when he had left Leipzig and gone to Norway. The first of these NorskeNorskeWiser Wiser is dated 'Norway, '87' 'Norway, July 18th l8th '87' and the others have dates in the same monthmonthr. '. This first date Robert reminded us was the day on which Delius had met the Norwegian schoolmaster Olav Johannesen Heggebo on the journey from Stavanger to Sandeid and who had invited him to his wedding,wedding. due to take place the following day at 0len. @len.The bride, Britha Evensdottir. met them off the boat and travelled 2 '2 with themthemr.• Delius, then aged 25,25. recorded in his notebook as having written '2 Canons & a song on deck' whilst travelling fromfronr FloroFlo16 to A.lesundAlesundon the steamer Nors~iern(Not'st.jern(e)e) on Friday 5 August but does not referref'erto the seven pieces specifi­specifi- cally,cally.it seems. Although Delius was not to meet Grieg until the autumn of 1887 in Leipzig upon his return from his holiday, he records having loved Grieg's music since he had been a little boy. 'It'lt was as if a breath of fresh mountain air had come to 1 me'. he wrotewrote3.• Perhaps not surprisingly then,then. these seven pieces show some Grieg int1uences,influences.especially the sixth. The seventh,seventh.dated 27 July (the day before he commenced the walking tour).tour), shows a resolute character which Roger Buckley feels f-eelsemphasises Delius's resolve in tackling the difficult journeyahead. Robert said that, despite lookinglookin-e at many hundreds of Norwegian folk-tunes, he had not as yet discovered any which might have been the source of these seven. He next played two pieces from an album of fourfbur Delius pieces arranged forfbr the piano by himself, namely PlantationPlantatiott Dance (at sunset)suttset)and Nocturne.Nocrrl'nr,, both from the FloridaFloriclaSuite composed by Delius in 1887-9. These together with EsquisseEscluisse(Caprice) and Dance Rhapsody No 2 have been published by Thames Publishing and distributed by Novello & Co (reviewed in Journal 103). The finalflnal item was the exceptionally faithful Heseltine piano arrangement of InItt au summer gardengartlert made in 1921l92l of the work so lovingly lovin-elydedicated to Delius's wife,wif-e,Jelka. Robert recalled how the manuscript of the arrangement, which had been very highly acclaimed by Delius himself. had been among material sent by Delius to Evlyn Howard-Jones for possible use at the 1929 Delius Festival. It 9 had remainedrernained with Howard-Jones until his death, when it passed to one of his pupils with other items, and when she died it then passed to a neighbour who had passed it on to a friend whose family played as a quartette. Later the head of the family had gone to see Pamela Willets at the British Museum who noted that some items were in manuscript. including this piece and the proofs of one of the Delius fiddle sonatas, and, with no purchase funds available,available.she had contacted the Delius Trust who secured their purchase. Thus, said Robert, the evening concluded with a apiecepiece offineof finemature Delius in an arrangement of which he had approved. Dick Kitching, as host for the evening, expressed the warm thanks of all present for a splendid recital given at what seemed to him an even more accomplished level than on Robert's previous visits, and commenting that his piano had never sounded so fine! All then partook of the excellent refreshments so generously provided by our host and other members of the Branch. It was an evening to remember forlor a long time to come.

On 15l5 February Robert repeated the first half of the programme at the BMIC for the benefit of London area members,members. but the second half oftheof theevening was completely different,different. being entitledentitled'A 'A sequence offolk-songsof folk-songsarrangedananged for the piano'. Robert began with four out of the five Norwegian melodiesrnelodiesthat he had managed to identify,identify.after considerable research,research. from those noted down by Delius in his music notebook as he heard them at the Heggeb(L)Heggebowedding mentioned above. Robert commented that he had found them to be very accurately recorded, with only a few minor errors, and he played arrangements by Berggreen,Ber-egreen,Lindeman and H Kjerulf. The seven NorskeNot'ske Wiser by Delius, commented on above, followed, and the Norwegian section was completed by six NorskeNorsle Wiser, Op 17l7 by Grieg. Robert reminded us that, with the exception of those in Op 66, allallof ofGrieg's Grieg'sfolk-songs are derived from LindemanLindeman's's massive collection. Hungarian folk-songs and melodies by Bela BartokBartdk and Liszt followed,tbllowed. Robert pointing out the close similarities between the pieces played,playecl, despite the difference in years between the compositions. The recital concluded with a section on folk-songs of Great Britain and included two Folk-Song Preludes by Peter Warlock and three nursery rhyme arrangementsarrangements-Chen'tRipebyCyrilScott.- Cherr,\' Ripe by Cyril Scott, LondonLortclonBridge Bridge bybyBalfburGardiner. Balfour Gardiner. and an amusing arrangement of SingSirrgau SongSottg(~lSixpenceo.f Si-r1terrc e by Leo Livens. Robert was thanked by Rodney Meadows, the Society Chairman, forf or a most entertainingentertai nin g and informative evening of music and comment. Diane Eastwood kindly provided the refreshments served with wine during the interval.

1.l. RohertRohertThrcllall.A(-utulogrrt'olThrelfall..4 C"t,,/ogll" ollh"thtCrtntltrtsitirttt.srlFrt'dtritADt'lirr.i1De'lrusTrust COII//wllt/Olll oIFI",,"a/l!- f)"Ii/l1 (Delius Trust I1977t.p.'J77 1.1'.190 196 'Through "2. RogerRogcr Buckley.Bucklcl . 'Through NorwayNoruitv in Delills'sDeliLrs'sfootsteps'.fi)olsk-ps'. /)"/1111I)t'lttrr SOliI'll Stxi(t.\./o/lrn"/.lt)t!rridl 'JoNo 'J'J99 1'.0p,6 'Re'colicctions 3.-1.Frederiek IjrcdcrickDeliusDelius. .. Recollection, ofot Grieg·.Grieg'. in LionelLioncl Carley.Carlc'r./)e/III.\Dclirr.r. 1I UleLiTc'ittill L"ttasLtrtar.t Vol.\/ol. I (ScoiJr{ScolarPn?ssPrcss Il9li.1tp.-19-l 'JR., I p.3'J-I Brian Radford 10l0

NO ORRDIENCES ? Some comments on Jane Wilson's recent book on CWC W Orr, with some personal memories of him, from Geoffrey Hoare, his friend and near-neighbour for fifteen years.

CWC W ORR - THE UNKNOWN SONG-COMPOSER (including the complete Delius-OrrDelius-Oncorrespondence) by Jane Wilson. 90pp.90pp.Thames Thames Publishing. ISBN 0 90521090s21058 1. £8.50f8.50 The timing of this work,work. surely classified as a thesis, coincided with a rare rare benefit year for the now almost forgotten Gloucestershire composer of songs, Charles Wilfred Off.Orr. He died at his Painswick home,home. where he had lived forfbr over 40 years, onon24 24 February 1976,1916, at the age of 82. He chose to depart this life exactly as the nearby church clock tolled midnight. His favourite choral work was always Delius's Mass of Life, and the section, after orchestra and harp paint the approach of midnight and where laterlateron on the baritone and chorus singsing'O '0 Mensch! Gib acht, was spricht die tiefe Mittemacht!Mitternacht!Ich schlief, ich schlief' would have been very appropriate. In 1989, BBC Radio, who in the past have neglected Off,Orr, especially during festivals devoted to British song, did feature a few of his songs. They also broadcast his little-known miniature for string orchestra,orchestra. dedicated to Eugene Gossens and entitled A CotswoldCotsvyoldHillHillTune. Tune. reminiscent of Delius and of his disciplediscipfePhilip Heseltine's Serenade (1923), both of whom had become OIT'SOm's friends. On 313l July a commemorative plaque.plaque, affixed on the front wall of his old home 'Clevelands' (now Church House), and the idea of his faithful doctor, was unveiled. Exactly as the church clock - only 50 metres away - tolled six o'clock,o'clock. reminding maybe the small group of onlookers of the composer's dislike of bells unless heard at a considerable distance. To misplace and slightly misquote poet Housman's mythical churchyard (LXI),(LXI). 'the clock (on Painswick Steeple) still strikes the hour and tells the time to none'. Then an outside event of the 1989 Gloucester Three ChoirsChorrs Festival,Festival. held in Painswick Church, included three songs from Orr's settings of Housman poems 'A from 'A ShropshireSht'opshit'eLad'Lad', ,sung sungby Brian Rayner Cook, accompanied by Clifford Benson. Last, and by no means least, the announcement in December of the publication of Jane Wilson's book to conclude (by comparison with past years) 'a 'a bumper year' for CWC W Orf.Orr. Orr first contacted me in 1961l96l having read that I'd started recording in the early 1940sl940sonhugecoilsof on huge coils of chromechromesteel steel piano wire fedt'edinto a home-made apparatus. On the phone he was crying for help. Apparently at great expense he had gone to a private recording studio in London, and over two days had, with himself at the piano,piano.recorded all his songs onto softsofi acetate LP discs with Wilfred Brown, Gordon Clinton and,and,l I think, Paul Spencer.The originals arrived 1 in Painswick. CWO altered the speed from 78 to 3333rlr/, but failed to turn over the pick-up! A sapphire 78 stylus played them through once, and next time they were 11 so chewed up it sounded likelike someone walking down a gravel path. II went over,over. met him, and spent a week filtering them themout,out. cutting cuttingtrebletreble andand transferringtransferringtoto tape.tape.He hadno tape taperecorderrecorder but spent hours with me listening (as(as farfar as he could with his deteriorating deafness) on headphones II specially specially designed forfor him. Copies of these recordingsrecordings farfar fromfiom perfect are now in the National Sound Archive. Later in my friend Dr Ruth Gipps II foundfounda seconder to Dr Fenby's proposal of Orr's membership toto thethe Composers'Guild of Great Britain. II would questionthethe useof 'unknown''unknown'inin thethe book's sub-title, preferring 'neglected' 'forgotten'. 'neglected' or 'forgotten'. Readers may not want to know of an unknown composerconlposerbecause therethere are hundreds of them,them,but belikely likely toto wanttoto know the reasons why a genius likelike Orr suffered my alternatives. In his day, when ballad-mongering etc. was popular, CWC W Orr was by no means unknown -- both as a composer and as a formidable fearless critic, alas often destructive,desfructive, but farfar 'a removed fromfrom just 'a music reporter'. He worshipped threethree gods: Hugo Wolf, AEA E Housman, and Frederick Delius. Today most Delius worshippers would know ofOrr,of Orr.for fbr both composers in their time - and now - were regularly without honour in the counties and country of their birth. Today both get far more performances abroad. At one stage 01'1',Orr. failing to find a home music publisher 'pedal'his to print and 'pedal' his wares, was forced to seek out and employ a Canadian publishing house. I never learnt at what cost to the composer in the long term of lost causes, or if any of the few songs published at Oakville, Ontario ever soldsofd extensively in the home market there. One of them,them,lnIn ralle.\'syallet's greengrean andarrcl still (1952) was certainly popular in England.Englancl.This setting of one of Housman'Housman'ss Last Poems was also Orr's last published Housman song - a swan song maybe - as there had been nothing from his pen for the previous twelve years. Orr's constant war-cry overtheover the years, 'thatfoulJenner','that foul Jenner', is mentioned by Miss Wilson. He blamed the famous Gloucestershire physician for nearly 50 years of persistent eczema.eczema. Actually in this instance Jenner was not to blame but the Orrs' then familytamily doctor. Vaccination had been caried out without realising that the very young Master Orr waswitsalready supporting a constitutional formfbrm of eczema. For myself Miss Wilson'sWilsorr'sstory peaks at the episode where she all too briefly describes how as a shy young man 01'1'Orr decided to trail Frederick and Jelka Delius as they leftlefi the Aeolian Hall in London after a concert that included Delius's First Violin Sonata. I have relived those scenes,scenes.first described andzurd related to merneby OlT,Orr,many times,times. how he followedtbllowed them into an Oxford Street restaurant, sitting as close to the couple as possible,and having the cheek to present himselfhirnself at their table - beforethe mainnrain course was served ­- 'Sir, saying, 'Sir, I am an admirer of your lovely music.' That was meat and drink to both the Deliuses - and a free meal for Orr. He waslater to bombardDelius for commentand encouragement on his early attemptsat composition.Just as Delius,in his formativeyears, sent a massof unpublishedMSS to all threeof his alreadybusy Norwegianfriends, Grieg, Sindingand Halvorsen for criticalanalysis, so in turn did Orr do likewisewith Delius,and often Heseltine. It's a wonderthey all remainedgood friends! One might questionif the adviceDelius gave, namely to commencea full-time musiccareer,basedoncareer, basedon an outputofoutput ofsongsonlysongs only - he had startedthus - wassound. 12t2

No mention of existing competition, costs, marketing, publicity, etc. But thethe influence,influence,artistry and name of thethe famousfamous and established composer Delius, so skilfully waylaid by Orr, provided thethe impetusimpetusso desperately sought. Lucky toto haveprivate means as apart from soldiering and early music tuition,tuition, OrrOn had nothing else toto offer at thatthatstage. In thethe end, over a considerable number of years, his published output consisted of 24 songs set to Housman texts,texts, and 12 l2 othersfromfrom miscellaneous poets. Many are now butoutof print. In laterlateryears therethere was a generalneglect of his music, with a lacklackof publicity,publicity.no Orr Society and his own lossloss of interestinterest fromfrom 1960 coupled with a degreede_ereeof embitterment at sparse or poor performances. By then he was suffering from poor health and the onset of his , ' ! 'janglingjanglingtypetype of deafness', due toto Organof Corti disturbancesinin thethe innerinnerear. TheTheBBC'sneglectofBBC's neglect of Orr was possibly due to some of his previouspreviousutterancesutterances ,t and destructive criticisms, with such suggestions and comments as using any soft fruit in season against bad singers, and that 'Parry'Parry was an amiable country gentleman suffering from the delusion he was a composer'. This last remark followed the revival of a Parry item in a local festival that had caused him displeasure. Some of Parry's relatives were so incensed at reading this observation in a localpaperpaperthey they demanded the Editor's apology. This, of course, was given,given.but not improved by a subsequent innocently misplaced 'very pronouncement that the Editor was 'very sorry to hear any of Mr Parry's relatives were still alive'! 'Weak'Weakorchestration', Orr would say to me when I played over to him Parry's Symphonic Variations and LadyLacly Radnor'sRadnot" s Suite.Saire.As his friend it was difficult to refrain from listing Parry's accomplishments,accomplishments. degrees and standing in the world of music compared with his own. Very few singers metrnet with his full approval: 'They are so nasal,' he would 'you rightly observe,observe. 'you can't hear their words,words. and why must they saturate my songs so much with fluctuations of pitch [vibrato] and rapid iteration on one note [tremolo].ftremolo].It becomes imitative, mainly the result of poor teaching; and audiences - if really honest - hate both!'bothl' In commenting verbally or writing on local Orr song recitals, one had to tread carefully. Painswick Music Society (originally Club, the brainchild ofGeraldof Gerald Finzi) treated Orr very well over the years. Under the guidance of Mercia Stotesbury, a well-known violinist,violinist. fromfiont 1946, and its later very efficient Secretary Jean Brooke,Brooke. it was well-established on the musical map. Orr, a paid-paid­ up member,rnember, could be certain of his works being featuredf-eatured regularly and annually. Had Miss Wilson's book appeared during, or even towards the end of, Orr's , lifetime, less its subtitle, it would have given a disillusioned and embittered (old) man a great deal of pleasure.He craved 'mention'rnention and recognition',recognition'. and anyonepraising or offering to further his products werealways encouraged. PersonallyI havenever favoured eulogistic epitaphs after death, for Do not wait till life is over, andhe's underneaththe clover: He cannotread his tombstone- whenhe's dead. G.G.H. 13r3

DEBUSSYDEBUSSYANDAND DELIUS A COMPARISON by Charles W Orr

[The Daily TelegraphTelegt'ctphSaturday 12l2 October 1929] 'It'lt is more profitable for a musician to watch a fine sunset than to listen to the Pastoral Symphony.' So wrote Debussy,Debussy. and thereby informedinfbrmed the world of his musical credo. Nature was ever for him a spur to his invention and the source of many of his finest inspirations. He was, in fact, a real tone-painter,tone-painter.and at its best his music is as nearly pictorial as music can be. Composers had depicted Nature in their art before, but none, I think, till Debussy had suggested so vividly certain effects in terms of sound - a procession of clouds across the sky, the pattering of rain among leaves, the hard brilliance of Southern colour, the bleak nudity of a winter landscape. He saw his subject with the eye of a painter, and he has not unjustly earnedeamed the title of an impressionist in music. Occasionally he persuades us into an almost physical sympathy with the scene he evokes. Are we not acutelyaclrtely conscious oftheof thequiveringquiverin,e heat of noonday when the Faun begins lazilykzily to pipe his notes into the silent air?air ? At the close of Jardinsfm'dins SOilSsous la pluie he suggests the moist heat of sunshine after rain with absolute certaintyceftaintyof touch, and not Shakespeare himself,himself , in the magicalma-eical lines in which he speaksspezks of the yellowing leaves that hang 'Upon those boughs that shake against the cold - Bare ruinedruinedchoirschoirs where late the sweet birds sang,'sang.' has conjured up better thethecheerlessness cheerlessness of a winter scene than Debussy, with a mere handful of notes, paints it forfbr us in the wonderful miniature Des pas slIr surla neige.rrcige. It is to his credit that his art did not oftenofien degenerate from a delicate impressionism into unsuccessful attempts at realism. He is said to have admired Richard Strauss, but I cannot help feeling that he must have had something of a cool ironic disapproval for certain effectsef fects of that master - the bleatingbleatrngof sheep in Don Qllixote.Qui-rote,fortor instance,instance.or the rather foolish critic-chatter section in Heldenlehen.Heldanlebett.HeHe was true to the best traditions of French art in his avoidance of extravagance; his work is like a well-ordered garden - small,small. if you will, but cultivated with exquisite good taste. What is it,it. then, that Debussy seems to lack in comparison with Delius,Delius. '? another tone-painter, for whom Nature has been an equally inspiring subject?subject For there can be no doubt that afteraf ter listening to things like In a SlimmerSuntmerGarden.Gardert, NorthNot'tltCOlllltr}'Coutttt'v Sketches.Sketc'hes, BriggBrig,g Fair.Fair, we are conscious that Delius is muchrnuchthe greatercomposerofthegreatercomposerofthe two. It is not aquestiona question of differingdiff-eringidioms,idioms. though it may be said that Delius's idiom,idiom. highly individual thoughthou-eh it is. has a much greater variety than Debussy's. Nor is it a matter of technique; we might be inclined to grant that Debussy's technique is the more brilliant of the two.

A PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFERENCE It goes deeper than that;that: it is an essential difference in the psychology of the two men. Ultimately, I think, it resolves itself into this: Debussy, vivid as were his 14t4 interpretations of Nature, never sought to suggest more than surface­surt'ace- impressions, which he was satisfied just to glimpse and then re-embody in his music. He viewed Nature, that is to say, from the outside, and was interested only in purely external effects which it pleased him to interpret in terms of his art. With Delius the angle of approach is quite different. For him the external beauty of Nature is significant in that it affords him an emotionalemotionalexperience. experience. and 'emotion it is this 'emotion remembered in tranquillity' that gives to his music an intensity that makes Debussy's art seem in comparison almost superficial. Does this sound vague and unconvincing?unconvincing ? I mean that Debussy gives us studies of Nature 'on noted, so to speak,speak.'on the spot';spot': brilliant sketches, yet somehow not completely satisfying. Delius prefers to record enchanting memories over which he has brooded long and deeply; so long and so deeply that listening to his music we seem to share in his experience and the emotions to which that experience gave birth. There is no question of mere impressionism here: the bird-notes on the woodwind in the magical introduction to BriggBt'iggFair.Fair, and the soft reiterated calls on the clarinetclarinetrnOn in On hearing thetheJ'irst first cuckoo in spring.spring,fall naturally into the scheme of what is. after all. a purely musical conception.

PURE MUSIC A musical conception - it is worth while emphasising that point. forfbr it is in his ability to depict Nature in terms of pure music that Delius reveals himself as a definitely greater composer that Debussy. By this I mean that he can write music satisfying as sheer sound apart from fiom any suggestive sLr-sgestivesignificancesi-enificance it may possess. ListeningListenrng to Delius we are never uneasily conscious that what we are hearing is aatourdetour de force. which is what a greatgreatdealdeal of Debussy's art undoubtedly is. To obtain the effect he desires Debussy frequently writes passages full of a superficial light and colour. butbutsignifyinglittleornothing signifying little or nothing from the purely musical standpoint. Delius,Delius.on the other hand,hand. is a musician first and foremost.toremost. and I think we can pay him no higher compliment than to say that even the subtlest of his Nature­Nature- studies can be listened to with pleasure as abstract music.music, irrespective of the suggestions it is intended to convey. And I am convinced that it is this quality that will keep his art fresh and vital at a time when much of Debussy's work.work, for all its brilliance and technical accomplishment.accomplishment, will have perished. For music. whether it be inspired by poetry or by a programme. or by certain aspects of Nature.Nature,must be ableerble to satisfy us of its worth on its merits as a piece of abstract sound, and the art of Delius triumphantly fulfils this condition.

[These two composers were also compared in their shared Cente­Cente- 'Delius, nary year in an article by Deryck Cooke.Cooke, 'Delius. Dehussy.Dehusst',and Pure Creation'.Creation', which appeared ininThe The Listener.Li stener,1 February 1962,1962,p.233.1 p.233.] 15

A MASS OF LIFE

Radio Times 25 October 1929

Mass ofoJ'Life,lLife, 1 November 1929, final concert of the Delius Festival, relayed from Queen's Hall (see JournalJournal94 94 p.38 et seq.) A Mass of Life was composed in 1904-5 and received its first public performance in 1909,when it was produced in London under the direction of Sir Thomas Beecham. It is the largest and most important choral work that Delius has written, and many of his admirers are inclined to regard it as his masterpiece. It may not have quite the personal appeal of its predecessor, Sea Drift,DrrJt, or the ex­ ex- traordinary sensuous charm of the work that followed immediately after, Songs q{of'Sunset,Sunset, but it surpasses both these in breadth of conception and dramatic power, and in the wonderful grandeur of the work as a whole. It is only with the great Masses of Bach and Beethoven that one can justly compare it. Yet tonight listeners will be hearing a masterpiece that has received less than half a dozen performances in this country, and is unknown to the majority of English music-lovers. Delius has gone forforhis his text to NietzscheNietzsche's's 'Also sprach Zarathustra', thefhe work in which the philosopher-poet embodied his conception of the 'Will to Power' as the prime motive force in man. It is not necessary to go deeply into the underlying philosophy of the Mass,Mess, and indeed to anyone unacquainted with Nietzsche's book as a whole,whole.the text as it stands must inevitably appear a somewhat disjointed affair, and parts of it perilously like windy nonsense. But those who have read Mr Heseltine'Heseltine'ss monogram on Delius will not need to be reminded of his dictum that for Delius a poem is purely a framework or support for the musical fabric he weaves over it,it. or as 'A particularizationparticularizatiorrof what the music is telling us in broader and more universal terms'. It will be sufficient to explain that Delius has selected those passages in whichwhichNietzschethroughNietzsche through the mouthpiece of Zarathustra,Zarathustra.declares his joyous and whole-hearted accept­accept- ance oflifeof lif-ein all its manifestations, this mood being temperedtenrpered by others in which a certain doubt and gloom descend upon him, to be dissipated in the end by a sense of joy, rising finally to a very ecstasy of happiness. The Mass is written for soprano, alto,alto. tenor,tenor. and baritone soli,soli. chorus and orchestra. The work opens with a dramatic invocation sung by a double chorus (eight 'O parts),parts).'0 thou my will, preserve me from all trivial victories ...... prepare me for the last great triumph.' This movement contains some of the most exultant music that Delius has ever written, and the effect, owing to the continuous eight-part writing and the orchestral accompaniment surging beneath, is one of amazing richness. The baritone then enters withwrth Zarathustra's invocation to 'Lift laughter: 'Lift your hearts up, brothers,brothers. lift your legs up,up. you jolly dancers; stand on your heads if you like, for I have canonized laughter ...... Ye nobler mortals, ' learn to laugh!'laugh! Then, after a lovely introduction sung by soprano, alto, and tenor soli against a murmured refrain for the chorus, the first dance song begins, a lilting three-four measure, rising to a climax and then gradually dying down as 16l6 in exhaustion,exhaustion. and the music subsides into a graver mood as Life (alto solo) 'O addresses Zarathustra in the tenderest tones,tones.while a bass chorus murnmrs,murmurs. '0 Man, mark well;well: what saith the solemn midnight rnidnight bell?' A kind of nocturne follows in which Zarathustra gives expression to the gloomy presentiments that have temporarily overcome him, till he is soothed by the tranquil influences of the night;night: the chorus sings a dreamy-sounding love-song,love-song. and the movement ends in the utmost peace and serenity. The second section of the Mass opens with a quiet orchestral prelude, after 'Arise, which the chorus enters with a vigorous and exultant outburst, 'Arise, glorious noon-tide; the sea is raging; steer our bark to yonder regions,regions.brave sailors.' The 'Gone soprano, alto, and tenortenorjoinjoin in later: 'Gone is the sadness of my spring-tide;spring-tide;herehere in these heights is our home. Neighbours are we of the eagles, of the Sun, and of the stars.stars.'' All this part is full of an elemental rapture and strength recalling the mood of thetlre opening chorus. After the richly harmonized song of Zarathustra to his Muse, we reach the second dance-song;dance-song: a wordless chorus forfbr femalef'ernale voices, illustrating the passage where Zarathustra discovers a bevy of young girls dancing in the meadows. He reassures them by telling them that he is no spoil­spoil- sport and begs them to continue. The dance,dance.interrupted by his appearance, is continued, and at its close the girls troop away andand Zarathustra is left alone,alone. brooding over his thoughts. The mood is continued in the following section, full of a gentleeentle melancholy,nrelancholy, until we reach the lovely peaceful scene where Zarathustra is dreaming in the silence of noontide. Life Lif-etries to arouse him,him. but 'Disturb he cries,cries. 'Disturb me not! Is not the world now made perfect?'perf-ect?'The choruschorr.rssings 'O softly on long held chords: '0 bliss! Now aged noontide sleeps.' In the next movement we have a midnight scene in which the chorus sings of the 'Joy melancholy of eventide, to which Zarathustra replies that 'Joy is deeper than even the mostnrost heart-feltheerrt-feltgrief.'grief.'This This leads to the conclusion, where, afterafier the recurringrecuring note of the midnight bell has been heard,heard.the chorus rises once more 'Joy to a mood of exaltation, reaching finally the ecstatically repeated phrase, phrase.'Joy desireth everlasting Day!' I would emphasiseerrrphasisethat what I have written is only to be regarded as a more or less inadequate signpost for the benefit of those listeners who are hearinghearin-uthe work forfbr the first time.tinre. It will be enoughenor-rghif the listener is aware of the differentdiffbrent moods that Delius sets out to express in the various sections sectiorlsof the Mass;Mass: the music is so overwhelming in its effecteftectthat the words to which it has been allied seem ultimatelyultirnately to be ofo1'onlyonly secondaryseconclaryimportance,irnportance, and the lovely melodies scattered throughout the work can be safelysat'elyleftlefi to tell their own tale. And I think that there will be fewf-ewto deny that it is a tale of sheer dramatic and lyric beauty that Delius has expounded for us in this,this. one of his loftiestlofiiest and most majestic conceptions. c.C. W. ORR 17

FURTHER BOOK REVIEWS

,NEW SIR THOMAS BEECHAM: FIFTY YEARS IN THE 'NEW YORK TIMES'TIMES, compiled and edited by J D Gilmour. 191pp.,19lpp., illustrated. Thames Publishing, 14l4 Barlby Road, London WlOWl0 6AR. ISBN 905210 557.55 7. £11.50f 11.50

This entertaining compilation is a worthy tribute to the enthusiasm, devotion and generosity of the late Jack Gilmour who painstakingly collected and financed this publication of over 250 entries fromfiom the New York Times relatingrelatin-e to Sir Thomas Beecham, the earliest dating from 1909 briefly reporting his father. Joseph Beecham's visit to America, the last two, from March and April 1962, being reviews of Charles Reid's Beecham biography. Each entry is presented in newspaper format, two columns to the page, complete with headlines.headlines.ltwastheIt was the compiler's wish to print each item exactly as itoriginally appeared, without correction but with annotated footnotes.f ootnotes. One can only assume a few mistakes have crept in at a later stage, such as a misplaced full-stop which 'Frederick gives us on pAlp.4l 'Frederick Delius, celebrated as a disciple of Mozart'Mozart'!! However, 'Eventry' apart from a number of slips such as an 'Eventry' and a missing caption on p.139,p.139.the presentation is generally excellent and the book a pleasure to handle. Here. as in any Beecham performance. there is never a dull moment, especially with Olin Downes's blow-by-blow account of Sir Thomas's New York Philharmonic debut with Horowitz. That formidable critic certainly seemed more favourably disposed towards Beecham than he was to Barbirolli. raving over a concert with the New York's City Symphony Orchestra of 'glowed unemployed musicians in Mozart that .glowed and sang with a transfigural 'conductor beauty and a veritable lust for life' under a 'conductor of positive genius',genius'. and 'high. in a 70th birthday tribute firmly according Beecham a 'high. secure and 'one exceptional' place in musical history as 'one of the significant and individual conductors of his epoch'. Downes also recommends the autobiographical A MingledMirt,gleclChime,Chime, his review dated as early as July 1943. Did American publica­publica- tion precede the British one?one ? The entries are by no means concerned solely with American matters for there are a number of Ferruccio Bonavia's Londonl.ondon reviews,reviews. including the 1931 l93l season ofcrf Russian Opera and the 1935 Covent Garden Koanga.Koangu. and some Ed­Ed- inburgh Festival reports. There are the occasional foraysfbrays into the courts of law and generous-eenerouslashings of Beecham'Beecham'ss pronouncements,pronollncements, titilting Iting one moment at the British eWe('We are the laziest nationnatiorr in the world already ...... I feel f'eel sure that in another fifty years EnglishmenEnglishrnen will never even get out of bed in the morningrtrorning..')..') and the next,next. in a long article,article.atatfailings failings in the American way of life.lif-e. Once the tongue-in-cheekton-eue-in-cheekand publicity elements have been stripped away,arway, there remains a refreshinglyrefreshinglvnew angle on the remarkably active lifelif-eof someone who. in his last years, sadly forfbr tax reasons spent too little time in this country. We can at least learn much of his activities abroad. A collection to relish. S.F.S.L. 18t8

SPRING RETURNING: a selection from the works of lamesJamesFarrar, made and introduced by Christopher Palmer. 143pp.l43pp. illustrated. Autolycus Press, 14l4 Barlby Road, London WlOW l0 6AR. ISBN 0 9034137690341376 O.0. £8.50f 8.50 'James 'lames Farrar: Poet, Airman and Delian'Delial?' was the title of an article that Christopher Palmer contributed to the January 1984 issue of this Journal. Journal.TheThe previous year he had presented a BBC radio programme which included a selection of Farrar's writings,writings. and in November 1986 he spoke to the Delius SocietySocietyaboutthislittle-knownaboutthis little-known figure. Palmer's enthusiasm culminated in this volume, consisting largely of extracts from Farrar's writings, and we are much in his debt for introducing to us a writer of considerable though unfulfilled promise for whom the music of Delius meant so much. It is an unusual story involving three persons who never met, yet between whom,whom.tofo use Farrar's expression, 'lines offorce'of force' could be said to exist: Farrar,Farrar. Delius, and Henry Williamson. lamesJames Farrar, born in 1923, was a young Mosquito pilot who died intercepting a flying bomb in 1944. As a writer his strongest literary influence had been Williamson who was only to chance uponupol-l some verses of Farrar's afterafier the latter's death. Recognising immediatelyirnrnediately a kindred spirit, it was he who was instrumental in the publication of Farrar's writingswritingsinin 1950l950underthetitle'fheUnreturningSpringwhichwasre-issuedand under the title The Unreturning Spring which was re-issued and slightly expanded in 1968with an introduction by Williamson. And here the threads are drawn even tighter, fortbr Williamson was an admirer of DelDelius,ius, though probably not quite with Farrar's intensity from the way in which the music becomes almost a recurring theme in this anthology. Palmer provides a perceptive introduction,introduction. informing us how Farrar 'devoured' Fenby's Delius as I knewknev'him just justas soon as he could borrow a copy from the library, and showing how Delius clearly became the modelrnodelfor the grandfathergrirndfatherintheremarkableshortstory'EpisodeinAugust'.Palmeralsoshowsin the remarkable short story 'Episode in August'. Palmeralso shows how Farrar himself became the model for the pilot in Williamson's story 'Phasian 'Phasian Bird' and how under his real name he makes a fictional appearance in the last of WilliamsonWilliamson's's ChronicleChrntticle (~tAnciento.f'Anc'iutt Sunlight sequence of novels. The selection of extracts fromfromThe The UnreturningUnrenu'ningSpring covers chronologi­chronologi- cally his prose, verse and diary writings from the last four years of his life. In places one is tempted to draw parallels with Edward Thomas who was killed in the previous war and who for tor all we know might also have been a Delius enthusiast: he wrote an essay entitled The First FirstCuckoo which was published within four months of the first English En-elishperformanceperfbrmance of the Delius work in which he considered the impact of such first experiences as hearing the cuckoo in spring. ThomasThornas was at least able to enjoy a fruitful if brief friendship with his mentor,mentor.Robert Frost,Frost. with mutual benefits. One can certainly sympathise with Farrar in his attempts to listen to Delius broadcasts on the Squadron Recreation Room wireless when most of his fellow pilots wanted the Forces programme. Were he alive today, Farrar would quite likely be a strong supporter of our Society. Members are urged to discover a fellowf'ellowenthusiast. S.F.S.L. 19r9

CECIL GRAY: HIS LIFE AND NOTEBOOKS by Pauline Gray. 208pp., illustrated. Thames Publishing. ISBN 0 903413337.90341333 7. £13.50f 13.50

If the name of James Farrar is new to many readers, that of Cecil Gray may be less so, though he is probably remembered more as the author of several key books of their time than as a person. His memoir of Philip Heseltine (Peter Warlock) in Cape's 'The Life and Letters Series' was for many years the only book on that composer. Gray was a champion of Sibelius on whom he wrote two books in the 'thirties. Sibelius, Delius and Van Dieren were among the causes he espoused in his SurveySuney of ContemporaryContentporaryMusicMusir' (1924), and his auto­auto- biographicalbiographical MusicalMusic'alChairsC hairs (1948)( 1948)reappeared in paperback in 1985in Hogarth Press's own 'Lives & Letters' series with a new introduction written by his daughter, Pauline Gray. And it is she who has assembled this present volume which admirably fills a gap in our knowledge of Cecil Gray, critic and - to a lesser extent - composer. The book is divided into three parts:partsr an account of his life up to 1939, covering the period of MusicalMusic'olChairsChairs'but 'but with new added facts and details which he chose to omit'; the remaining years up to his death in 1951;and the contents of 11I I notebooks he left behind containing material that might well have been intended for another book. The notebooks consist of a steady flow of unrelated thoughts, comments and observations, here a sentence, there a paragraph,para-eraph.ranging from the mildly vulgar, the caustic (on Britten and Bliss,Bliss. for example), to the witty ('Willie Walton, in his symphony particularly,particularly. uses pedals so continuously that if it were aabicyclebicycle he would have crossed America from the Atlantic to thethePacific'),Pacific '), and the perceptive: 'Even the most beautiful woman, the handsomest man,man. must be made up for the stage. Nature is not enough. So in the art of the stage ­- everything must be slightly heightened and exaggerated to be effective. The fault of DeliusDelius'sVillage's Village RomeoRontt,o alldatrcl.luliet Jlllie{ consists precisely in this -that the music is not made up - it is more effective off the stage than on .... .'' AAVillageVillage Romeo was to have featured in the opera seasonseilson Gray and Heseltine planned during the First War, a scheme against which DeliusDeliLrsstrongly warned them and which they abandoned. One shared project which did see the light of day, if only briefly, was the music journal The SackhurSackblr to which Delius was a contributor. CecilCecilGray'sGray's friends and acquaintances form a veritable literary andandartistic artistic 'twenties 'thirties, Who's Who of the 'twenties and 'thirties, amongst whom is DHD H Lawrence with whose wife Frieda, Gray is supposed to have had an affair. Gray, it seems, drifteddrified in and out offriendships,of friendships,affairs and marriages (three) with a greater proficiency than he possessed as a composer, and Pauline Gray helpfully catalogues the many 'appearances''appearances'of ofherherfatherand father and others in the novels of Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, Anthony Powell and a host of other writers, a 'dizzy carousel of character assassination' as she so aptly puts it. And the fascination of this excellent book lies not just in our contact with Gray himself but with the many other figures who pass through these pages, like Augustus John, Constant Lambert, Michael Ayrton. Gray's musical output consisted almost entirely of three music dramas, none of which has even now attained a complete 20

performance (though a BBC broadcast in 1944 of excerpts from The Women Womerr ofTro.voJ'Troysufficiently impressed Sorabji for him to call it 'without any doubt ther/re outstanding work in operatic form produced in this country during the last forty or so years, that is to say, since Delius's VillageRomeoandJuliet'.)Village Romeo ancl.luliet'.) His literary canon would have been slightly greater had he acceded to Jelka's request that he 'official' be Delius's 'official' biographer. But at the time other work occupied him and anyway Beecham had his sights on that task. S.F.S.L.

NEWSNE,WSROUND-UP

•O The Delius Society sends affectionateat'fectionate greetingsgreetinss to our Vice President Sir Charles Groves who celebrated his 75th birthday earlier this year, and to our members, composer William Reed and Geoffrey Hoare who are 80 this year. •O Meredith Davies has joined the DeliusDeliu.s Trust as MusicMr"r.sicAdviserAclviser on the retirement of Sir Thomas ArmstrongAnnstrong who has kindly consented to retain the title of Adviser Emeritus. •AO A largelargenumberofnumberofDelius DeliusSociety members attendedattendecl theMass(~tLUethe Muss rt'Lilc at Warwick on 17l7 February when Christopher Robinson conductedconcluctedthe OxfordOxtord Bach Choir and the CBCBSO.SO. The baritone Roderick Earle, too dependentclependenton his score,score.was clearly suffering fromfrorn a cold and the conductor. hand occasionally cupped cuppecl behind one ear,ear. seemed to be willingw'illing greater_qreatervolumevolurne fromfronr sections of the choir. 'a As the Independentlrrclepcnclerrrreviewer suggested,suggested.'a second performance mightrnight have sorted out difficulties with co-ordination and encouragedelrcouragedthe basses to more 'if solid tone ...... But',But'. Jan Smaczny summedsLu-nmedup,up. 'if the performanceperfbrnrancedid not overwhelm as it should, there was more than enough to remindrernind us of a work which equals Elgar's best and which remains shamefullyshanrefully neglected.' It is good news thattlratRichardRiclrard Hickox hopes to conductconcluctthis work towards the end of 1991. •O The final concert of the National Centre forfbr Orchestral Studies Symphony Orchestra,Orchestra.conducted by Gennadi Rozhdestvensky at the Barbican on 14l4 July last year. included a performanceperfornrance of Paris.Puri.s. The completecornplete programmeprogrilrrlnrewaswils broadcastbroitdcaston BBC's Radio 3 on 6 April. This same work has,has.it seems,seeffls.at last received a performance in the city of its inspiration. Michael Schonwandt conductedconclucteclLL'Orchestre 'Orchestre philhannonique decleRadio-France on 25 January at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees Champs-Elys6esin a concert relayed by France-Musique. 'Composer •O For the week July 9- I 3 Delius was once again BBC RadioRaclio3's 'Composer of the Week' (though that title has somehow somehorvslipped into the plural). Full marksrnarks to the producer David Gallagher's imaginativeirnasinativeapproach,approach. The aimairn was wils to contrast Beecham's handling of the major Delius scores with that of other conductors. Groves's Mass (~lof'Lif'eLUe EMI recording was split across the five weekday mornings, mornings.each programmeprogranlme also containing one or more other work,work. all with one exception Beecham interpretations. Insteadlnstead of the usual repeats in the evening of the following week, theIhe Mass performance used was this time 212l

Beecham's CBS recording, and the accompanying works all, save the Requiem,Requiem,by by a different conductor. This provided the BBC an opportunity to play an archive recording from 1963 with Rudolf Kempe conducting Sea Drift. eO Congratulations to our member Bernard Howell for winning his heat of BBCTV's MastermindMasterntindwith the life and works of Delius as his chosen subject. eO JohnEast reports thatJthat Julian ulian Anderson, a young composition student at the RCM, has recently mounted a Contemporary Music Festival there, and among the works played was his own Bucium,Buc'ium,an electronic piece derived from fiom the sound of the Roumanian alphorn.alphom. According to the programme note, BuciumBuc'ium 'is dedicated to the memory of FrederickDelius, part of whose Mass ofLzfeoJ L('e providedthe initial impetus for the piece',piece'. (presumably the mountain hornhom calls). eO The RLPO's 1990-91 l99O-91 season includes an unusually strong Delius representation: on 17l7 October Libor Pesek conducts the Irmelin Prelude: on 4,5 & 6 December Vernon Handley conducts The Walk to the Paradise Garden;Garden;on on 18 May 1991l99l SongSortgofoJ'Sumntet',' Summer; and atatthe the end of that same month there are plans forfbr the Cello Concerto, Double Concerto and and Paris to be performed across two concerts, Sir Charles Mackerras conducting. eO Britten'Britten'ss recording of the AquarellesAquat'elles has reappeared with its companion works onorra Decca mid-price CD 425425 160-2LM. Handley's recording of the complete Hassan music is re-issued with Elgar's theatre music forforThe The StarlightStat'lightExpressEr7;r'ess on an EMI two-CD set CMS7CMST 69891-2. His all-Delall-Deliusius Classics forfbr Pleasure record with the HalleHall6 is now available in all three formats, the new CD version being CD­CD- CFP4568. Sir Charles Groves conducts The FirstFirst Cuckoo on a Pickwick IMP Classics CD collection PCD926. Alan Barlow's ASV selection of English works with the RPO (1ournal99("/ournal 99 p.19)p.l9) is now available on CD DCA623. eA(DAnumber of Beecham Delius recordings from the old Delius Society 78 volumes, all of which first reappeared in the World Records LP boxed set SHB32, are being released on CD by the Sir Thomas Beecham Trust in 'The Beecham Collection'.Collection'. Paris.lrmelinParis,lrntelinPrelude.Prelude, E,'emyr.Evenh'r. the IntermezzoIntermezzofrom from FennimoreFanninun'e and Gerda andandOver Orer the hills andfar andJarawayav,a\ are grouped on BeechamBeecham2.2. Brigg Fair.Fair, La Calinda.lnCalinda,In au summersuntntergarden.garden, On hearingheat'ittgthefirstthe.f'it'st cuckoocut'koo initt spring. s1t'irtg,Sea DrfftDrift with John Brownlee, SummerSuntnter nightnigltt on the rirer.river. and andTheThe Walk to the ParadiseParaclise Garden are on BeechamBeecharn3. eO For the St George'sGeor-ee'sDay edition of BBC Radio 3's Mainly/orMoinlt'.for PleasurePleosure(a somewhat curious title) the presenter Valentine Cunningham announced with loving detail the next item,item. Inli a SummerSumnrerGarden,Garclen, which actually turned out to be Song (~fof'Sumntet'. Summer. Although several members immediately informedinfbrmed the BBC by telephone of the error, no cOITection corectionwas made and at the end of the piece we were again reminded of what it wasn't. Perhaps at least one listener pictured a gull winging its way over the garden at Grez ...... 'during eO George Little reports that 'during the monthrnontho{of May Delius flew two airlines simultaneously. Jon CurIe, Curle,until recently an announcer on Radio 3, included the whole of the FloridaFloriclu Suite in his in-flight compilation forfbr Cathay Pacific,Pacific. while on Qantas you could hear A Song before Sunrise Suruisebelieve it or not beforebefbresunrise'. Meanwhile,Meanwhile.according to the South Cheshire Herald andarul Post.Post, in February Delius 'all (in the form ofaof a 12-year-oldl2-year-oldhorse) was 'all set to compose himself'. The cutting, 2222

kindlykindlysuppliedbysupplied by MichaelMichael JacksonJackson ofof Crewe, Crewe,hadhad aafamiliarringaboutit: familiarring about it: 'Delius'Delius isisone oneofof those thosefrustrating frustratinghorses horseswhowho havehavebagsbags ofof abilityability butbut arearedifficult difficutt toto traintrain becausebecauseofof nigglingniggling littlelittleproblems.' problems.'NotNot composed composedenoughenough to to runrun at at NottinghamNottinghamonon 17 17 February,February,thethe followingfollowing week weekhehe did, did,however, however,comecome in rn2nd2nd atat6- 6-I I atatKempton KemptonPark. Park. •O Delius'sDelius'smedical medicalcasecase historyhistory is isone onechapter chapterinrn Music Musicand andMedicine: Medic'ine;MedicalMedic'al profilesprofilesofoJ greatgreat composerscomposets byby Or DrJohn JohnO'SheaO'Shea (Dent,(Dent, £f 18.95).18.95).OtherOther composerscomposers discusseddiscussedincludeinclude Bach,Bach, Gershwin,Gershwin, Grainger,Grainger, Grieg,Grieg, MahlerMahler andand Ravel.Ravel. •O AliceAliceJones Jonesreportsreports onon two twosuccessful successfulmeetingsmeetings ofof thetheSouth-WestSouth-West Branch.Branch. OnOn 88September September19891989 membersmembers gatheredgathered atat John Johnandand BettyBetty Herbert'sHerbert's homehome nearnear BathBath totohear hearLowingerLowinger MaddisonMaddison talktalk on onHoIst. Holst.ThenThen atat a ameeting meetingonon 31 3l MarchMarchheldheld atat thetheOctagon, Octagon,BrisolBrisol Polytechnic, Polytechnic,DenhamDenham FordFord presented presenteclaa programme programme onon Sir Sir ThomasThomasBeecham.Beecham. TheThe nextnextmeeting meetingwillwill bebe heldheldat at 2.302.30p.m. p.m.on on SaturdaySaturday2222 SeptemberSepternberatat The TheOldOld School SchoolHouse,House, Sheepscombe,Sheepscombe, nearnear Stroud,Stroucl. when,when. followingfbllowing aa shortshortAGM, AGM. ChristopherchristopherRedwoodRedwood willwill talktalkonon Delius Deliusandand Elgar.Ergar. •O ItIt isisour oursad saddutyduty to toreport reportthethe deathdeath earlier thisthis year of MrsMrsEdith Edith Bird, a Delius Society member likelike her sonson John toto whom we offer our sympathies. The deaths have also occurredoccured of Ashley Lawrence, forfbr manyyears conductor conductorof the BBC ConcertOrchestra, who in in 1974l9l4revivedrevived thethe0;o; iginal version of In a Summer SurnnterGardenGartlen and thethe FolkeraadetFolkeraadcr Suite,Suite. and of Arthur Hutchings,Hutchings.whose critical biography of DeliusDelius(Macmillan(MacmiIlan 1948)1948)remains remains a greatly admired andandmuchsought-afterst;dy. much sought-after study. •O The video recording of AAVittage\/dlage Romeo and Ju/iet.Jtliet,with with Sir Charles Mackerras conducting,conducting.has been completed and,and. through the good offices of the Delius Trust, we were able to preview it at Scarborough. Release details (and a report of the Scarborough week-end) will followfbllow in the next issue.

OBITUARY PETERLONGHURST

ItiswithparticularsadnessthatwerecordtlreIt is with particularsadness that we record the death last March of PeterLonghurst.Peter Longhurst. Peterwas a lovalloyal and enthusiasticmember of thethe Delius Society as well as the fbnnerfanner Sir Thomas Beecham Society and attended the meetings of both whenever possible.He had alsobeen a ntembermemberof the BeecharnBeecham Choral Society and recalledrecalled with obvious pleasurethe the concensconcerts and recordings inin rvhichwhich he tooktook par-t.part. Full ofofwann warm goodgood humour.humour, he could trulytruly be describedas both a gentlegentle man and aa gentleman.gentleman. There areare notnot soso many of hishis likelike thatthat we cancan affordafford toto loselose him.him. Peter hadhad suft'eredsuffered frorlfrom aa heaftheal1 conditioncondition fbrfor somesome yearsyears butbut when aa more seriousserious illnessillness wascliugnoseddecided\vas diagnosed decided hehe diddid notnot wishwish toto undergoundergo furthersurgery. further surgery. pref'erringpreferring toto remainremain atat homehome withwith hishis familyfamily andand friends.friends. OneOne ofof hishis closestclosestfi'iends friendsformany for many yearsyearswas was thethe writerwriter andand criticcritic DavidDavid CairnsCairns whowho waswas alsoalso aa membermember ofof thethe BeechamBeecham ChoralChoral Society.Society. soso itit waswas fittingfitting thatthat atat thethe MernorialMemorial ServiceService forfor PeterPeter MrMr CaimsCairns delivereddelivered thethe address.address. Our Our sinceresincere condolencescondolencesgo go toto MrsMrs LonghurstLonghurst andand family.family. DenhamDenham FordFord 23

CORRESPONDENCE

FROM: Lionel Carley,Sheepscombe, Glos.

In drawing my attentiontoto twotwo pagesin Gloria Jahoda'sbook The Road to Samarkand,Samarkand. Janet Randel reminds me that Mary Ferguson(cf. theconclusion of 'Old my article'Old or Newl',leu'Grot'e',Jout'nalGro\'e', Journal l0l,101, Summer1989) is identifiedby 'old JahodaonJahoda on pages 45 andand5757 of herbook:her book: 'old Mary Ferguson.Ferguson ... had done Mr Pride'swashing when he'd livedat Solano(sic) Grove'. The author tells us that Mary laterperformed the sameoffice for Delius,but doesnot give us her exact age. Thereare many risks involved in usingJahoda's biography of Delius as a documentarybasis for thestudy of anyparticular aspect of Delius'sDelius 's life. In the sameparagraph as the line quoted above, E Albert Anderson, Delius's caretakerand general factotum at Solana Grove, is spelled (and remains spelled)Elbert Anderson - a minor aberrationwhen compared with others.But Jahodadid get out and about at Picolataat a time when peoplestill thereeither remembered Delius himself (or indeed remembered tales about him) or at least knew some of those who were around him in 1884-5 and again in 1897. One therefore forgets - orordeliberatelydeliberately sets aside - GloriaGloriaJahoda'sJahoda's book at one's peril. From her brief reference to Mary Ferguson,Ferguson.it would at the very least seem unlikely that this good lady performed any other than the more conventional housekeeping services for Delius while he was in Florida.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Wednesday 3 October at 7 p.m. B.M.I.C., 10l0 Stratford Place, London WIW I Delius Society meeting: John White will discuss Appalachia,Altpalat'hia, an illustratedillustrated talktalk which he has twice given before some years agoa-eo and which he is repeating by general request.

Wednesay 1010 October at 7.30 p.m.p.rn. Purcell Room,Room. London Tasmin Little will perform Delius's Violin Sonata No 1I in a recital recitalinin thetheSouth Bank 'Beethoven 'Beethovenand 20th Century British Music' series.

SaturdaySaturday13l3 Octoberatat 8 8 p.m. High Wycombe Parish Church Final concert of thethe Wooburn Festival. with Vaughan Williams' TheTlte Lark Lurk Ascending.Ascenclirtg,Hoist'sHolst's HymnHt'nm (~lJesusrf'Jesus and Delius's Hassan Suite,Suite. with the theWooburn SingersSingersandand thethe FestivalFestivalOrchestraOrchestra conductedconducted byby StephenStephenJackson.Jackson. TicketsTickets rangingrangingfromfrom £3.50f3.50 toto £8f8 availableavailablefromfrom 2222 September.September.BoxBox OfficeOffice06285­ 06285- 24243.24243. 24

Wednesday 7 November at 7.30 p.m. Coliseum,Coliseum. London FirstFirstnightofnight of 1l0perforrnances operformances ofENO'sof ENO's new production of FFeennimorennintore andGerda,andGerda. conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. Further performances conducted by Mackerras on 10,10.14, 16,16,2222 & 24 November and 13l3 December; Lionel Friend conducts on 28 November and I & 6 December. FFenninnre ennimore andartclGerda forms part of a double bill with Puccini's comic GianniGianrtiSchicchi. Producer Julia Hollander discusses her ENO debut as director in the current Coliseum booklet.

Wednesday 14l4 November at 7 p.m. B.M.I.C.,B.M.l.C..10 l0 StratfordStrattordPlace, London W 1I Delius Society meeting: programme to be announced

1991t99l

Tuesday 29 January Januaryatat7 7 p.m. B.M.I.C.,B.M.l.C..10l0 Stratford Place,Place. London WIWl Delius Society meeting: 'Memories of lrmelin'.frmelin'. Carole Rosen, in conversation with Thomas Round who sang the role of NiNils,Is, willwilltalk talk about the 1953 Beecham production at Oxford.

Thursday 7 March at 7 p.m. B.M.I.C.,B.M.I.C..10 Stratford Place,Place. London WIWl Delius Society meeting:rneeting: a recital,recital.chiefly of songsson-esby Delius and Warlock,Warlock. sung bybv DouglasDouelas Robinson (tenor).

Tuesday 30 April at 7 p.m. B.M.I.C.,B.M.I.C..10 Stratford Place.Place, London WIW I Delius Society meeting: programme to be announced

Saturday 22 June and SundaySunclay 23 June Wolfson College,College. Cambridge Advance notice is given of the dates for the Society's AGM and Dinner week­week- end to be held next year in Cambridge.Cambrid-se.A full report on this year's ScarboroughScarboroueh week-end will appear in the next issue.

Further details of Delius Society events can be obtained from Programme Secretary Brian Radford,Radford. 212l Cobthorne Drive. Allestree.Allestree, Derby DE3 2SY. Telephone:Tefephone:0332 552019 (home) or 0332424420332 12412 ext. 3563 (work).

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